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I'm new to the BMW world. Driving a 98 M3 sedan with about 150k (daily driver) and looking for advice on practical upgrades. Most of my driving is on the highway. No racing/track.... Also, what type of issues should I be looking out for with a car at this mileage?

man, that's a loaded question. Search some of the sticky threads for maintenance lists.
if you want to keep it feeling stock'ish, then maybe change out the shocks and bushings, which if original, have long outlasted their life. Koni sport shocks, new OEM bushings can change the feel of the car in a strongly positive way

Important:
Before you start wasting $$ on bling, find out if the cooling system has been overhauled.
If not, then replace the coolant tank, the waterpump, the tstat, the tstat cover and the hoses at minimum.
The plastic components. Of the cooling circuit are very brittle by now.
While you're in there a new radiator would be good.

Important:
Before you start wasting $$ on bling, find out if the cooling system has been overhauled.
If not, then replace the coolant tank, the waterpump, the tstat, the tstat cover and the hoses at minimum.
The plastic components. Of the cooling circuit are very brittle by now.
While you're in there a new radiator would be good.

Worn suspension would be next

m

7pilot is offering the best advice possible.

These are several cooling system upgrades that will decrease your likely hood of being stranded by the brittle factory parts.

We highly recommend changing the parts mentioned like the coolant expansion tank, thermostat, switching to an aluminum thermostat housing and getting a water pump with a metal impeller.

Also make sure the necks where the hoses connect to your rad are in good shape or change the rad to eliminate the possibility of them failing after you do all this work, that would certainly be a bummer.

It's also a really good idea to inspect the engine driven cooling fan for cracks, these self-destruct quite frequently and can cause a lot of auxiliary damage to everything around it. A lot of people prefer getting rid of it and switching to an electric fan setup, the added bonus is you theoretically gain an immeasurable amount of power by reducing the drag on the engine from the old fan.

Once all that is sorted then you can move on to the wonderful quirky of the E36 like the oil pump nut issues, rear shock towers and sway bar mounting tabs. The list goes on, but the forum is a good place to look for help and advice.

1. I did a fan delete kit that I really like. Not so much for power but just to get rid of that clumsy clutch fan always in the way of everything else.
2. Main thing on bimmers. They require maintenance often. They are a more sophisticated car all around with many more moving parts than say... a Ford Taurus. Thus, there are more things to go wrong. But the trade off is that you are driving (in my opinion) one of the most functioning, well handling, and fun cars on the road today even up against all of the enormous competition out there.
3. I went back to stock suspension so I have a left over set of Koni sport (yellow) shocks and TC Kline springs I would let go for $400 + shipping. They have about 40,000 miles on them. Let me know if interested.